Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 237: A Quick Resolve

Chapter 237: A Quick Resolve

"Mama, why was the stranger so silent today? Does he not know how to speak with other strangers like me?" Alain asked his Mother who was helping him take off his shoes after they arrived at her chamber. With his white stockings still on, he took a step back to gaze at his tired Mother with inquiring eyes.

"The stranger is... probably shy." Madeline oddly noted, but kept her main worries to herself. "You two seemed to be having a conversation before I came, will you tell Mama what you two were talking about?" She probed softly, her eyes gazing into the Amber-brown ones of her son who tilted his head to the side, as if thinking about it, and he shook his head with finality, his soft, fluffy hair moving with each turn.

"He didn’t speak to me, he came to take back his gem." Uttered Alain who had gone down on his knees at the edge of his bed and picked one of his books that was neatly arranged at the surface. Madeline’s eyebrows creased at her son’s ambiguous response. She glanced at him to see him sketching freely on a fresh page in his book.

"What type of gem?"

"His gem." He answered yet again, and of course, Madeline couldn’t expect her son to give her a proper detail of what he really meant by the gem. Exhaling a weary sigh, it wasn’t too long she thought of brushing the idea aside when Cassian stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, and in his hand was a book, whilst the front, obsidian-black cover contained drawings of different types of the moon. Lately, her husband has been spending his free time in the royal library, trying to understand how the eclipse in this realm worked, and she wasn’t surprised to see him show up with a book in his hand.

"Cassian?"

"We’re nearing the month’s end and I think I figured out how this thing works." He said to his wife as he sauntered towards the desk table at a corner, dropping the book on his desk. He turned to look at his wife who had risen from bed and was gazing at him in momentary confusion. With a quick scan of her appearance, he approached where she stood and left a loving kiss on her forehead, then he helped her sit back on the bed after sensing her exhaustion.

"You should rest more often, is Alain the cause of this? Ali... you’re starting to stress my wife, say sorry to her."

"Sorry." He waved his hand apologetically at his Mother whose lips spasmed into a tired, yet warmly smile, but she shook her head at Alain, as if telling him he had nothing to apologize for. Although, her husband wasn’t wrong either, she had been playing hide and seek with him all morning, and finding a child in such a grand Palace can become... neverending. However, she blamed her husband too since those traits were gotten from him.

"I am fine, I’ll rest afterwards. So what do you want to tell me?" She asked her husband who was presently crouching in front of her while she remained seated on the bed. Taking her hand in his, he kissed her knuckle and said.

"I went through the astronomy books I could find in the royal library and I figured... This blood moon is no ordinary event." He began, "the calculations to predict such an occurrence are as intricate as the heavens themselves, and it took me some time to understand what that meant but I finally did. It is the alignment of the sun, the moon, and our realms that allow for the blood moon manifestation, My love."

"Manifestation?" Madeline subconsciously leaned forward, absorbing his words like a cherished melody, and she asked, "But how do we know when we’ll return to our realm then? To Carmarthen?"

"That is the extraordinary part." Cassian nodded knowingly to his wife’s harmless inquiries, "it is during the blood moon that the barrier between realms become significantly thin, so when the portal opened, we were transported here, somewhere a normal portal wouldn’t bring us to on an actual day so when the blood moon comes, we’ll be able to go back through that same portal. The next blood moon, my lovely, Maddie, is in a week’s time."

"A week?" Madeline whispered, her eyes brightening at the news. ’our long awaited return is only a week away.’ she said in her mind, but Cassian, who could easily read her mind like an opened book, smiled with unyielding fascination as he nodded.

"You can go through the book yourself, but that won’t do. I will speak with his Majesty to confirm if my calculations are correct. If they are, then we’re going to have to start bidding the Palace and its people goodbye."

"Goodbye? But... I don’t want us to go back." The soft mumbling voice of Alain disrupted the couple’s conversation, and hearing him say he didn’t want to return to his home was a surprise to the both of them. He had stopped sketching, but he still played with the pen while showing off a sullen look.

"My baby doesn’t want to go back to Carmarthen, why not?" Sitting at the edge of her bed where her son still kneeled, she waited for him to tell her his reasons, but he only shook his head without uttering why he didn’t want to go back.

"Ali?"

"Little Duke." Squatting before him, Cassian made his son turn around gently to look at him. His eyes, which were a striking resemblance to his own, remained sullen, and he asked.

"Why don’t you want to go back? I see... you’ve made new friends and forgotten about your Aunt Inna and Uncle Orson. Is that it? You don’t miss them?" Cassian asked his son who sniffled as he rubbed one of his eyes with the back of his palm.

"I don’t want us to go back."

"And why is that?" He held the little boy’s hand, stopping him from scratching his eye even further and inviting a rash. "Come on, you can tell me what’s bothering you, I won’t yell at my little Duke. What happened?"

Alain looked into his Father’s eyes, and his hesitation reduced. His lips quivered as he found his words, "because when we go back, you and Mama will become very busy, and you won’t have time for me anymore. If we stay here, then I can see you two everyday, and play with you." He whispered, his baby voice a fragile thread of vulnerability.

"My dear.." Madeline’s heart ached as she reached to gather her son in her arms, but Cassian gave her a look that told her he would handle it. Returning his gaze to his son who was staring gloomily at the floorboard, his toes wiggling in his stocking, Cassian couldn’t resist his adorable son and pecked both his cheeks.

"Listen, we may have duties, but you will always be our number one priority. No matter how busy we get, your Mother and I will always make time for you, regardless of how annoying you can be. Now where’s my little Duke?" He arched a playful eyebrow at Alain whose thin pink lips curled slightly to a smile, and he heard his Mother say.

"We’ll never be too busy for you, you’re the most important thing in our lives so keep repeating this word in your head so it will never leave, okay?" A smile dawned on her lips when he looked between her and his Father.

"Promise?"

Madeline and Cassian exchanged a heartfelt look and nodded in unison, "promise." They both whispered, sealing their commitment to their precious son. Alain’s face brightened instantly, and he threw his tiny arms around Cassian, already sending him falling back on the ground, with him on top.

"Heavens! You’re starting to get heavy!"

"No hugs for Mama?"

Alain simply left his Father’s side to hug his Mother, but he didn’t throw himself at her the way he did at his Father, and Madeline immediately gathered him in her arms. When she looked at Cassian who was watching them both like a dream that had become his reality, she let out her hand for him to take. When he received it, he lowered his head so he could kiss the woman who made his life one worth living, but they were both stopped by Alain who showed them both his sketchbook.

"See!" He unintentionally used the big book to block their faces, ruining the moment, and this was one those times Cassian felt like throwing his son out through the window. He loved him extremely but then, he always comes in between the passionate moments he should be having with his wife.

"Let me have a look... wow! I see your governess’s work is really paying off." Madeline complimented her son’s sketches, and he got down from her legs.

"I’m going to meet Uncle Maurice now!"

"Hold on, take off your coat, the weather is warmer now, and wear your shoes before leaving." Madeline instructed her son who did as told before hopping out of the room.

Left alone, Cassian wanted to continue from where they had left off, but his wife picked the sketchbook instead and was gazing at her son’s drawing, her eyes conveying a feeling of cherished moments he had sketched onto the book. She had to admit his sketch was really bad, but she could understand the message behind each of his drawings.

"Who knew our son harbored feelings like that in Carmarthen? As his parents, how did we not know?" She looked at Cassian who took his seat beside her, and he clicked his tongue.

"Well My Love, I don’t know, but that makes me understand some of Father’s behavior in the past. We’re not experts, but thankfully, that was resolved quickly... Now, where were we?"

Taking the book from his wife’s hand and keeping it aside, he proceeded to seal her pending lips with a kiss.